CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
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the little snowflakes pouring down from the heavens and kissing the earth's surface. the frigid breeze engulfing her body once she took a step outside. despite being wrapped up in multiple layers of clothing, the tips of her nose and ears, even her cheeks, turned bright red, which turned out to be a natural look for the raven-haired girl.
"winter might be my favorite season, but i'm about to freeze now," reimi muttered to herself, stuffing half of her face deep into the collar of her padded jacket.
kiiro glanced at the pinkette before handing out one of the warm packs to her, motioning for her to take it even though she refused to do so. once she made sure that her friend wouldn't be freezing to death, her gaze shifted to the train that had just recently arrived, and they went inside with their luggage, settling down in their respective seats.
the day of christmas had ended not long ago, and it's now the last page of the year 2012. tokyo, as the heart of japan, is the busiest city throughout the entire country on most days and even busier during the holidays. surely, the city later on would be filled with loud fireworks left and right, and the streets would be crowded by locals and foreigners.
noise and crowds are the top two on kiiro's list of pet peeves. instead of enduring the tremendous torture, she already planned out what she'd do on new year's eve with her brother. however, the male declined her offer, saying that he still needed to practice for the tournament, which is less than a week from now, and that their manager needs a break more than anyone else.
"is it totally fine to come with you?" reimi whispered to her, fiddling with her pink mittens.
kiiro hummed in confirmation. "i wouldn't drag you if you weren't."
"you have a point, but you said that you'll be staying with your friends at hyogo. that's totally fine since you guys knew each other, but wouldn't it be embarrassing for me to also stay there?"
the raven-haired girl turned to her friend and sighed. "even if they wouldn't agree, which was the opposite, i'd still bring you with me, and we'll stay in a motel instead. also, chill out, emi-chan; they're just a bunch of dunces, aside from a few."
"w-what should i do if we meet them already? should i bow? should i go—"
"emi, chill the heck out."
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"das' her. over here, kiiro!" a fairly tall and muscular boy, aran, waved his hand up in the air to capture the attention of the said female, who had just gotten off the train.
"iro-chan said that she brought her friend, but damn i didn't know she was a cutie," atsumu stated, eyeing the two females coming their way through the crowd.
"ro-chan," osamu smiled at her before engulfing her in a tight hug. he rarely shows any emotion, yet when it comes to her, he doesn't hold back.
kiiro let out a soft groan as his big biceps wrapped around her head, considering the significant height differences. they stayed in one another's embrace for only a few seconds before the raven-haired girl struggled to pull away and gasped for air.
"i know you've been working out, but you're not the one i planned to die in with a chokehold." kiiro scrunched her nose and rolled her eyes, eliciting amused chuckles from them.
just then, her eyes automatically shifted to the brown-haired boy, who was silently standing at the side like a statue. kiiro cocked her head to the side in confusion as both of them held eye contact. as if through telepathy, she raised her arms wide open for him, and she almost got knocked out when he rushed towards her with a much tighter hug.
"god damn, you also need to chill out, taro." kiiro muttered against his chest, her hands wrapping around his waist, quietly enjoying the warmth radiating off his body.
suna leaned down to her ear, and when his cold breath made contact with her skin, she slightly shivered. "i missed you," was the only thing he told kiiro before pulling away from her embrace, much to his dismay.
"okay, our turn!" the rest of the inarizaki boys, excluding their captain, greeted their dearest friend with a hug, a head pat, a squeeze in the cheeks, and more, which is no issue at all for kiiro.
after the whole greeting scenario, kiiro then motioned towards her pink-haired friend beside her. "guys, this is reimi. and emi-chan, this is the inarizaki boys' volleyball team," she introduced, not bothering to say every single names.
reimi was wide-eyed when all of the boys stared at her. she was aware that her face was burning, but luckily the cold weather concealed it. "nice meeting everyone. please take good care of me!" she exclaimed and bowed politely with the sweetest smile that the boys loved.
"alright, let's head off now before everyone gets sick," kita butted in, and everyone complied with his order. in his hands were the luggage of kiiro, while the luggage of reimi were brought by aran.
"thanks, suke-san!" kiiro appeared beside the captain with a wide grin displayed on her face, which the latter returned as well.
"no problem, kiiro." kita lightly bumped his head on hers, and they both burst into a fit of chuckles as if they were in their world.
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two hours before the clock struck twelve, and the entire inarizaki team, including the two girls, were gathered around the table. their loud chattering could be heard in the entire household of miya. the sight of the meat sizzling on the round electric grill was mouthwatering, and the miya twins almost gobbled everything up for themselves before being nearly killed by kiiro.
"sugo! yer a singer and can play acoustic guitar?" atsumu exclaimed, earning a nod from reimi. his eyes sparkled at her response before he grabbed her hand, catching her off guard.
"can i marry ya—itai!"
suna gave the blond miya a headchop, "stop harassin', reimi-san."
"i wasn't harassin' her—fuck, ta' hurts, sunarin!" atsumu whined, rubbing his head after getting headchopped again.
"shut ta' hell up!" suna retorted, but the latter only flashed him his middle finger. "don't be jelly that rei-chan likes me presence more than yers, sunarin~"
their petty argument went on, and kiiro could only witness her friend being stuck between the two. the raven-haired girl didn't do anything, as she knew that the captain would butt in anytime soon, which kita did immediately without spurting out any threats.
"do ya' still want more, ro-chan?" osamu whispered close to her, noticing that she had been eyeing the meat on the grill.
kiiro met his eyes and gave him a brief nod, then osamu took his chopsticks before swirling them around the grill to take the cooked meats and placing every single piece in her bowl. in return, kiiro thanked him but gave him at least a few meat pieces and an onigiri, feeling bad that she got all of the meat.
"you also need to eat a lot for the tournament," she said, taking a spoonful of rice and meat to her mouth.
osamu smiled at her thoughtfulness, "i can't believe that ta' beloved manager of nekoma seemed to be concerned about ta' other team, eh?" he teased.
kiiro pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. "you guys are my friends and they are too, so i'd be concerned in both of your welfare either way."
osamu only chuckled, finding her reaction amusingly cute. as they continue to converse with one another, so do the others around them to kill time before the new year. when it was at least a few minutes before twelve o'clock, everyone rushed to the rooftop of the house, anticipating the fireworks to show.
"it's freezin' cold here!" atsumu complained, rubbing his clothed arms to keep himself warm. though they ignored him, so he decided to further annoy them. "tis' a bad idea to be out—oomfh!" then a snowball was aimed right on his face.
"consider listing "shutting up my mouth" on your new year's resolution." kiiro glared at the blond, but then she received a "fuck off" from the sulking atsumu.
as it was only a minute away from twelve, the raven-haired girl took a glance at her friends present within her presence. watching their interaction with one another and even with her best friend, reimi, was heartwarming and brought a soft smile to her lips. to her, it felt like it was only yesterday when she came across these boys and eventually formed an unwavering friendship, but truthfully, this would be her second new year with them.
"ya' seem to be deep in thought. a penny for yer' thoughts?" a soft, deep voice interrupted kiiro's trail of thoughts, turning her head to meet a pair of grayish-yellow eyes.
kiiro shook her head and sighed, seeing her breath clearly through the cold night breeze. "nothing much. don't worry about it, taro," she replied.
"what's yer wish though?" he questioned, a bit curious to know. the latter only smiled as the sky started to be filled with fireworks left and right just when the ten-second countdown began.
"that would be a secret. what about yours?" kiiro returned the question to him. suna stared down at her and reached to hold her hand, prying her attention off the fireworks showcase.
both of them stared deeply into one another's eyes, finding themselves lost in their worlds. suna squeezed her hand and leaned down, a few meters from her face, but neither of them faltered away.
"my new year's wish is..."
despite the booming roars of "happy new year" and the sound of fireworks even the faint ringing of bells filling the entire surrounding, she could clearly hear his next word and her heart pounding to escape her chest when his warm lips came into contact with her cold forehead.
"you."